1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transport member such as one used for an industrial robot, for example; and, more specifically, to a transport member used when transporting a semiconductor wafer, a liquid-crystal substrate, or the like to the inside and outside of a firing process furnace, and the like.
2. Related Background Art
Industrial robots have been widely in use for transporting semiconductor wafers, liquid-crystal substrates, and the like (hereinafter referred to as “substrates and the like”) into firing process furnaces at it a high temperature (about 300° C.). In recent years, as the substrates and the like increase their size, fiber-reinforced plastics (hereinafter referred to as “FRP”) such as carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (hereinafter referred to as “CFRP”) in particular, which are lighter in weight and easier to handle as compared with metal members having a similar bending rigidity (resistance to bending), have begun to be used in members for mounting the substrates and the like in industrial robots, such as transport members known as robot hands and effectors, for example.